Sunday, October 26, 2008

It's official - Commuting is shit

It's not that often that commuting stories hit the headlines (with the thankfully-rare exceptions of fare hikes and train crashes) which made an article on the BBC web site entitled "Faecal Bacteria Join the Commute" even more intriguing than it already appeared.

It seems that all those horror stories about what you get if you touch the rail or even the upholstry on yer average public transport vehicle are true. Something like 50% of commuters tested (30% in London, 70% in Newcastle - proof that, in georgraphical terms, shit doesn't slide down) had poo on their hands and were busily smearing it all over the interior for the next passenger. Who says commuters don't believe in sharing?

I had a colleague in my previous job who said he never touched anything on public transport, propmting one to speculate as to how he kept his feet during spells of turbulence (he was an ex-dancer, so maybe he just had really good balance). Another colleague, on the other hand, always disagreed with him, on the basis that it's good for us to be exposed to germs because that's how we build up immunity. There was actually a similar fuss about licking stamps and envelopes a few years back, and I remember thinking then that the lack of statistics on envelope-related deaths and diseaeses did rather leave the argument lacking a little something - rigour, I suppose. All I can say for certain is that, after a lifetime of commuting during which time I have doubtless been exposed to all kinds of shit (literally) I remain a model of good health.